The Razorbacks have struggled on this side of the ball and rank near the bottom of the SEC against the run (190.2 ypg) and pass (232.0 ypg) and have allowed at least 35 points six times while giving up 36.1 points per game.

Sure, Ed Orgeron landed the LSU permanent head coaching job three weeks later when the Tigers walloped Texas A&M and then Tom Herman rebuffed the program’s interests, but this is when it really began — a game at Arkansas after a 10-0 loss to Alabama.

LSU whipped the Razorbacks on the road, impressing many of the school’s decisions-makers, a rebound performance that justified Orgeron’s talked-about motivational skills. It started on Sunday afternoon following that Bama loss, the Tigers strength and conditioning staff switching into motivating mode, clapping and yelling around the facility. It carried into the week of practice and meetings.

On the team plane to Fayetteville, Arkansas, staff members continued their tactics, commissioned by Orgeron to fuel a squad that Bama beat down seven days prior.

They need a repeat this week, and the LSU coach says it won’t be a problem.

“We’re going to finish. There’s a lot of belief in our locker room right now,” Orgeron said Saturday night after a seventh straight loss to the Crimson Tide, this time in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “Those guys would be ready to play a game tomorrow morning right now.”

Bama snapped LSU’s three-game win streak —

The 24-10 loss to the top-ranked and undefeated Tide behind them, LSU (6-3, 3-2 SEC) now gets a reeling team with an embattled coach in the earliest home kickoff for a game since 2011. The Tigers, who slipped out of the AP top 25 but are ranked 25th by the coaches, host Arkansas (4-5, 1-4) at 11 a.m.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It was unlike any offensive game plan LSU ran against Alabama in recent memory.

At least for a while.

Danny Etling threw deep often. Russell Gage ran the jet sweep more than he ever has. And the most explosive play of the Tigers' 24-10 loss to the Crimson Tide on Saturday was a 54-yard run by Darrel Williams out of a wildcat-style formation.

SEC Country LSU‏ @SECCountryLSU A ‘couple of plays’ were the difference in LSU’s loss to Alabama http://sec.news/2lSJjeg #GeauxTigers

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — You can count the number of defensive miscues on one hand.

The rare combination of a finely tuned pass rush with lockdown coverage helped LSU rip off three consecutive SEC victories heading into its showdown Saturday night at Bryant-Denny Stadium. While both of those elements were certainly evident, top-ranked Alabama took advantage of some spotty play in the back of the defense, which ultimately was the difference in the Tigers’ first loss since September.

“It wasn’t an off night,” junior cornerback Donte Jackson said after the 24-10 loss to the Crimson Tide. “We played hard for 60 minutes, and about three or four plays, our guys weren’t tuned in or focused on their assignment. They let their guy loose or get open and that’s all it was.

“It was on us because these are things we work on and get right 10 out of 10 times. The one play came down to a couple of inches. LSU versus Alabama is a grown-man game, a game of inches. Every second counts, every inch counts and every yard counts. We just lost on a couple of plays.”

Alabama always loads the box with defenders against LSU to take away the run. So why not play into that tendency? Load the box with offensive players, isolate your best wide receiver in man coverage, keep seven or eight men in to block for your quarterback and heave the ball deep to your isolated receiver in man coverage.

You can’t find a simpler plan than that. It’s a strategy Pop Warner football teams use every fall. Pit your best playmaker against your opponents and bet on your athlete. Canada was betting Chark would be faster than whoever Alabama lined up against him and would be able to get open in the deepest crevasses of the secondary.

And here’s the crazy thing: Canada was right. This strategy should’ve worked. Over and over and over and over and over again. Go back and watch the tape. Chark was isolated in single coverage every time he streaked down the field. Sometimes there was safety help. Sometimes there wasn’t. But no matter the coverage, Chark had the opportunity to gain leverage on his defender and win a 50-50 ball for a huge gain.

Right tackle Toby Weathersby was not present during the limited portion of practice open to reporters, joining left tackle KJ Malone as key absentees from drills. Malone has missed the last month of practice after suffering a left knee injury at Florida.

Please say a prayer, her voice is horrible. I tried last week to watch the A&M game could only make it through half of the first quarter before I put on the UF/Mizzou game (which was a blowout)

ESPN had mercy on Hog-LSU fans by not assigning her crew to the game. I am not a fan of any of that crew. Not real familiar with the crew assigned to the game, but the Mowins crew is one of the worst if not worst ESPN has. These guys are doing the game: Jason Benetti, Kelly Stouffer, Julie Stewart-Binks